Instrumentation 路 Free
Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control
Pressure, level, flow and temperature measurement, switches and sensors, 4-20 mA loops and the calculations, control valves, P&IDs, HART and smart transmitters, calibration, and how instruments meet the PLC, DCS and SCADA.
Inside the course
From the lessons
What Instrumentation and Control Is
Instrumentation Academy
Level Measurement
Instrumentation Tools
Temperature Measurement
Instrumentation Academy
4-20 mA Loops and Transmitter Wiring
Instrumentation Academy
Control Valves, Actuators and Positioners
Instrumentation Academy
HART, Fieldbus and Smart Transmitters
Instrumentation Tools
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Explain instrumentation and control, describe the working principle of the common pressure, level, flow and temperature instruments, wire and read switches and proximity sensors, explain and calculate 4-20 mA loops both ways, describe control valves, actuators, positioners and I/P converters, read a P&ID, explain HART and Foundation Fieldbus, describe calibration and its records, and place every instrument in the PLC, DCS and SCADA loop.
- Tell open-loop from closed-loop and name every part of a control loop
- Explain absolute, gauge and differential pressure and the instruments that measure them
- Choose a level and a flow technology for a service and say why
- Read RTDs and thermocouples and check them with a meter
- Wire PNP and NPN sensors and limit switches to a PLC
- Calculate 4-20 mA to percent to process variable in both directions, including square-root flow
- Describe control valves, positioners, I/P converters and solenoid valves
- Read a P&ID, explain HART, describe calibration and follow a signal from field to screen
For you
Taking Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$23.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 14 hours
Deaerator and feed-pump instrument package: from P&ID to signed loop check
Specify, schedule and document every instrument on a boiler feedwater deaerator and its two feed pumps: the P&ID tag and line schedule, a 24-row instrument index, ISA-20 datasheets for a DP flow transmitter and a wet-leg level transmitter, loop drawings, cable and junction-box schedules, a five-point calibration record and a loop check sheet with NAMUR fault tests. You deliver your own index, datasheets and loop check; the sample pack shows what an instrument engineer hands to a panel builder and a commissioning team.
Sample document pack, 9 documents, filled in for the scenario
- P&IDP&ID Tag and Line Schedule: Deaerator DA-101 and Feed Pumps P-101A/B
- Instrument indexInstrument Index: Deaerator DA-101 and Feed Pumps
- DatasheetInstrument Datasheet: FE-201 / FT-201 Feedwater Flow (Orifice and DP Transmitter)
- DatasheetInstrument Datasheet: LT-101 Deaerator Storage Level (DP Transmitter, Wet Leg)
- Loop drawingInstrument Loop Diagrams: LT-101 (sheet 1) and FT-201 (sheet 2)
- Cable scheduleInstrument Cable Schedule: Deaerator DA-101
- JB scheduleJunction Box Schedule: Deaerator DA-101
- Calibration recordCalibration Record: FT-201 Feedwater Flow Transmitter
- Loop checkLoop Check Sheet: LT-101 Deaerator Storage Level
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
14 modules 路 86 lessons 路 8h 50m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01What Instrumentation and Control Is2 lessons16m
- 02Pressure Measurement10 lessons1h 5m
- 03Level Measurement6 lessons16m
- 04Flow Measurement10 lessons29m
- 05Temperature Measurement3 lessons15m
- 06Switches and Proximity Sensors10 lessons50m
- 074-20 mA Loops and Transmitter Wiring7 lessons45m
- 08Percent and Process Variable Calculations4 lessons43m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Beginner. No prior instrumentation knowledge; basic electrical sense helps.
- Software
- None required.
- Hardware
- None required. A multimeter and any 4-20 mA transmitter or loop calibrator make the loop modules real.
Software you need
Nothing to install
Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control at a glance
Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in instrumentation and process plants. It has 14 modules and 8h 50m of video lessons by Instrumentation Tools, Instrumentation Academy, Instrumentation Tools, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Engineering students, ITI and diploma holders, and working engineers in instrumentation and process plants
- Format
- 14 self-paced modules, 8h 50m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Beginner. Beginner. No prior instrumentation knowledge; basic electrical sense helps.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- None required.
- Hardware
- None required. A multimeter and any 4-20 mA transmitter or loop calibrator make the loop modules real.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- Instrumentation Tools, Instrumentation Academy, Instrumentation Tools (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
Instrumentation 路 FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free instrumentation and process control courses
Learning paths with this course
- Process control 路 4 coursesInstrumentation, PID loops and drives on top of a PLC: the combination process plants, water boards and pharma lines hire for.
- Control theory to the loop 路 4 coursesMATLAB and Simulink for the theory, PID control for the practice, instrumentation for the signals and VFDs for the actuators.
Learner reviews
No reviews yet
Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Do I need any equipment?
No. A multimeter and any 4-20 mA transmitter or a loop calibrator make the loop modules hands-on, but every practice task can be done on paper.
Is this for engineers or technicians?
Both. Technicians get the principles behind what they wire and calibrate; engineers get the field reality behind the P&ID. The calculations module is the one interviewers ask about.
Which industries does this apply to?
Oil and gas, power, chemicals, pharma, water, cement, food and any plant with a control room. The instruments and the 4-20 mA loop are the same everywhere.
Some source lessons are short animations. Is that enough?
The animations show the principle in two minutes, and the notes and practice tasks add the depth: ranges, wiring, failure modes and the calculations.
Is the Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control course really free?
Yes. Every module, practice task and assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.
What certificate do I get, and is it a vendor qualification?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not an ISA, vendor or government credential and is never described as one.
Who made the video lessons in the Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control course?
The creators named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channels. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$23.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- Instrumentation Toolsthe Instrumentation Tools principle, loop and calculation videos
- Instrumentation Academythe animated instrumentation lectures
- Instrumentation Toolsthe DCS course with HART protocol
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.